🏈 AJ

[Bamabww]

Copied from a forum at Tidesports.com

I took my 10 yr old son to the Bama baseball game in Mobile on Friday. AJ was throwing out the first pitch and he was having a meet & greet session before. My son heard about it at school that day was not going to take no for an answer, so even though it was cold and late notice, we went.

We had to stay in line for about an hour and as we got closer, park staff informed us that time was short and no autographs, etc. So when it was finally our turn to meet AJ, my son had a change of heart and hid behind my wife. My son has Aspergers and sometimes he has a hard time dealing with his excitement. He goes into a shell.

I was not going to push him to do anything but I knew he really wanted to meet AJ. He has been wearing a #10 jersey for years and even makes us watch Bengal games so see if we see him on the sidelines. He is a fan.
I asked my son again if he wanted a quick picture and he shook his head no and had a tear in eye, so I was about to move out of line and see if my son was just content with looking at AJ from the corner of the room. We still had a line behind us.

AJ saw was going on and came around the table and spoke with him and spend what seemed like 5 minutes talking. He signed his jersey, took a couple of pictures with him and gave him a Bengals playing card.
He went above & beyond and made my sons day. It will be something he will remember for his whole life.
It means a lot and I just wanted to pass that along.

 

[BamaFan334]

Pretty awesome. AJ comes across as egotistical in the media storms, but he is awesome with fans and just being a normal guy. Very pleasant when I was around him on campus and class.

 

[BigCrimson]

Great to hear good stuff about AJ. Congrats to your son as well for scoring an autograph and some pics.

 

[PhillyGirl]

Pretty awesome. AJ comes across as egotistical in the media storms, but he is awesome with fans and just being a normal guy. Very pleasant when I was around him on campus and class.

I totally agree with you on this!

 

[gumboman]

I watched AJ grow up through park baseball/football, and my sons played with him through high school. I noticed that after school, at the ball park in the summers, and every waking moment he was in public, the younger kids were drawn to him. Not because he always had a college football in his hand, but because he NEVER told them "No." He never acted like he was "better" than anyone else. He did things on his own time that were never discussed outside of his home. He wasn't looking for any recognition. If he was in a position to help someone, he always did. ESPECIALLY the younger kids. Part of me thinks he is more sensitive because he realized early on that after an accident at the beach as a child, he is lucky to be here with us. But as I watched him interact with these kids, it became apparent to me that this kid just has a good heart, and you can see it. It was those times that stick out to me the most. Football was just a game he played after school.